Der Unfallchirurg
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The monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) represents a cornerstone in the intensive care of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the industry provides various technical solutions to this end. Decompressive craniectomy can be an option if conservative measures fail to reduce excessive ICP. ⋯ ICP monitoring is one of the most important tools in TBI treatment. The course and outcome of these severe injuries is affected by polytrauma, age, and the use of anticoagulants.
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Uncontrolled bleeding is the leading preventable cause of death in patients with multiple injuries. Currently, trauma-induced coagulopathy is seen as an independent disease entity influencing survival. Severely bleeding trauma patients are often treated with classical blood products in predefined ratios (damage control resuscitation). ⋯ Viscoelasticity-based diagnostics and therapy enable the qualitative investigation of whole blood and provide therapeutically usable information on initiation, dynamics and sustainability of thrombus formation. Due to the ease of handling and timely results this lends itself as a point-of-care procedure. This article presents the clinical issues with using viscoelastic procedures and current expert recommendations taking the literature into consideration.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitutes a heterogeneous condition that affects the most complex organ of the human body. It is commonly classified by its location as focal injury (e.g. epidural hematoma) and diffuse injury (e.g. diffuse axonal shearing injury) as well as by primary and secondary tissue injury. Accordingly, direct mechanical force causes the primary insult. ⋯ They should help distinguish disease severity and predict morbidity and mortality; however, the most commonly used biomarkers (S-100β and neurone-specific enolase) show a low specificity. In theory their successors (i. e. GFAP, pNF-H) seem more specific; however, these "new kids on the block" still need to be thoroughly investigated in large scale studies.
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Advances in the rescue chain and first aid of polytrauma patients, which have consequently increased their chance of survival, have led to an increase in demands for rehabilitation. However, there is still a large hole in the continuity of rehabilitation between acute patient care and in-patient rehabilitation, the so-called "rehab-hole". The consequences are untapped rehabilitation potential, loss of strength, endurance and motivation as well as impairment of function of the patient. ⋯ In order to implement this phase model it is necessary to establish specialized facilities that meet the particular requirements needed for phase c. This tri-phased treatment model in trauma centres can therefore be used in trauma rehabilitation. In addition to the already established local and regional rehabilitation centres, nationwide trauma rehabilitation centres have adopted phase c rehabilitation.
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Concomitant traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases mortality and reduces quality of life of polytrauma patients. These facts demand effective treatment strategies while the growing specialization of medicine is questioning the role of the trauma surgeon in the management of these patients. ⋯ In an age of standardization and a high degree of specialization in the field of medicine, the trauma surgeon still seems to be able to ensure an optimal treatment of polytrauma and concomitant TBI by focusing on priority-based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and adhering to principles of damage control surgery.